Yuri Genre

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Since homosexual males are called "gay," homosexual females should be called "ecstatic".

"Yuri is a blessed thing. The refined and subtle actions, the warmth, of a world where only girls reside...yet also the pain of interpersonal politics and selfish intrigue. And finally, those strong emotional bonds before which no hardship is an insurmountable obstacle. Verily, a finely-honed mental and spiritual realm for transcending the crude conceptions of the male mind!"

— Hanadera Keisuke, Yuri Danshi

Yuri, the Japanese word for "lily", refers to a genre in Japanese Media based on sapphic romance — that is, romance between girls that like (but not always only like) girls. Yuri works often focus either on romantic or sexual feelings, but increasingly have both. Western fans will sometimes use the term "shoujo-ai" to refer to romance-specific, less-explicit works, while using "yuri" to refer to more sexually explicit work. However, in Japan, "shoujo-ai" often refers to girl-focused pedophilia, and yuri is also known as "Girls' Love" (in English), or GL, a term created in common with the more popular male version, "Boys' Love" or BL.

Yuri is a genre distinguished by many tropes, stereotypes, and specific plotlines or interactions. The term "yuri" is so strongly associated with those tropes and stereotypes that some Japanese yuri fans use a different term, like "bian" (short for lesbian)note "lesbian" and it's abbreviated version "les" are often used and seen as perjorative in Japanese culture, "Onna x Onna" ("women x women"), or "Onna-doushi" ("women together") for works which are actually by/for lesbian women. Yuri is commonly an idealized and unrealistic portrayal of sapphic relationships, like most romance, and is not representative of actual sapphic people, culture, community, and experiences. This is, in part, due to the genre's high Fluff content.

In Japan, yuri stories and portrayal depend a lot on the target audience demographic:

Yuri aimed at girls ("shoujo yuri") is commonly hyperfeminine and "pure" but may feature some degree of gender-bending or cross-dressing, with the bifauxnen in a more traditionally male role. In either case, it's usually focused on fantasies of female solidarity, idealized femininity and gender transgression, not with lesbian identity, culture or actual life in Japan.

Yuri aimed at adult women ("josei yuri") is usually less stereotyped and fairly realistic, like most fiction aimed at adults. Many works in the demographic are targetted at actual sapphic women, which is why this type is often called "yuri for lesbians". Generally, this type is the most realistic regarding sapphic identity, culture, experience, and politics, but is a small portion of all yuri produced.note As previously noted, some readers use a separate term for "yuri by/for lesbians" to distinguish it from the more common types.

Yuri aimed at men ("seinen yuri") tends to emphasize (or overemphasize) sweetness, femininity, girlishness, innocence, purity, and moe generally. This type often shows a very romanticized or idyllic view of female adolescence or childhood. This is in contrast to fetishized and fanservice portrays of sapphic romance or sexuality. This type of yuri rarely mentioned or includes long-term relationships, LGBTQ culture, or any other realistic aspects of being a sapphic woman.

Yuri aimed at boys ("shonen yuri") tends to only exist as a secondary or tertiary genre under the main focus/es (see "background/subtext" yuri below). Often portrayals of sapphic romance is subsumed under sapphic sexuality in these works, often working the fetishized Girl-on-Girl Is Hot trope hard. For this reason, most sapphic interactions in shonen-aimed works tends to not be "yuri". Not to say that it does not exist, but that one should take care before labeling anything sapphic that occurs in a shonen work as "yuri".

"Background" or "Subtext" yuri is a cross-demographic type of yuri that has been gaining a foothold in Japan. These works portray female protagonists (often Action Girls) in lasting lesbian relationships, without actually being specifically about these relationships. Though this element has the same status that a Romance Arc in non-romantic fiction does, such works are classified as yuri in addition to whatever their primary genre is.

When a yuri work was made has a large impact of exactly what tropes it uses. Older yuri of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s tend to be more rigid in their adherence to standard tropes. Recent yuri works tend to break the traditional mold much more often as the genre expands and gains more mainstream acceptance.

Jin Takemiya started working on original yuri doujin in 2007 and eventually debuted in Yuri-Hime, winning their Division Prize for her one-shot "All My Love and Lies" (later included in the Love Flicker collection) in 2009. Writing primarily in the Slice of Life genre, Takemiya is incredibly prolific, and her works have been featured in every issue of Yuri-Hime since her debut.

Game concerns Chiriko, who finds herself the target of the Foreign Exchange Student Rebecca's affections, because she happens to look exactly like her favorite Dating Sim character.

Girlish Sweet is somewhat of a Concept Album: it follows several mostly unrelated couples, but with a few pervasive motifs (the author refers to it as her "Red Seifuku Series", after the school uniforms most characters wear) and themes (various allusions to sweetness and sweet things).

KiLa KiLa follows Saya, a Fangirl of the Idol Singer Ria, who finds herself falling in love with the latter's insecure twin sister Mari. This story has thematic overlaps with My Beloved—another Love Triangle involving two sisters vying for affections of the same girl.

Love Flicker was Takemiya's first collection of previously published one-shots.

Perfume of Love is another Concept Album, united by the theme of scents and aromas.

Akihito Yoshitomi. Is well-known for his contributions to the genre, though he tends to take weird approaches:

Blue Drop, although the anime is much less explicit with its Girls' Love than the first and third manga of the series. The second manga Tenshi no Bokura moves away from Girls' Love, as the focus is on a heterosexual pair.

Sisterism is a GL manga about two childhood friends falling in love with each other's little sisters. Who are both 12. Although it's hinted that they're actually attracted to each other and misinterpreted their feelings.

Two and Two is a slightly different take on a similar setup, with two schoolgirl roommates discovering their attraction to each other only after they independently start dating older women. Both of whom are childhood friends, so it's complicated. Also, at least one pairing is into domination/submission play.

Mochi Au Lait is a Pixiv artist whose popularity skyrocketed when her works had been translated to English. Her stories are known for being cute and funny scenarios about very odd couples.

Citrus is a drama yuri manga of a lover/sister relationship between two step sisters, one's a gyaru adapting to her new conservative all-girls school looking for a het partner at first, the other an ice queen Yamato Nadeshiko with daddy issues.

Gamma, an action-adventure manga that takes inspiration from all things Super Hero, from be it Western superhero comics, through Sentai, to Magical Girls. The latter ones in particular are the focus of the manga's yuri subplots.

Nanashi No Asterism is about three girls who are the best of friends, but one harbors a crush on another.

Netsuzou Trap is about two girls who have trouble keeping their hands off one another.

Notes from the Garden of Lilies is about a shy, lone wolf otaku who finds herself being the object of interest by her classmate, the School Idol, when said classmate finds a notebook containing story ideas for her next manga.

Prism is a manga about a girl who fell in love with a 'boy' in elementary only for them to be reunited years later with the revelation 'he' is really a very pretty girl. Written by the same mangaka as Stretch.

Saki is a yuri subtextMahjong anime that holds the record as the series with the most yuri themed blushing. One interesting note is that the anime plays its Girls' Love up more than the manga.

Sakura Trick Two girls try to keep their friendship unique and special. By kissing each other. A lot.

Sasameki Koto happily marries relationship angst with school life comedy.

Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai, a shojo manga that follows the relationship between a schoolgirl who wishes to rely on no one but herself, and a self-proclaimed mermaid who must find true friendship in one month's time or she will fade away forever.

Shinozaki-san Ki wo Ota Shika ni! About a girl who is in the closet... about being an otaku. And sure, she may have some weird fantasies about her friend Kaede, but that's just because she's so cute it's a crime that she should be an otaku. So Akina must save Kaede from that terrible lifestyle... and maybe get a special thank you when they're alone.

Stretch is a Slice of Life series about two women living together. After the first few chapters, it becomes clear that their feelings for each other run deep. It's never explicitly stated if they're lovers, but that may only be a matter of time.

Swap Swap is about two schoolgirls with opposite personalities that can switch bodies by kissing.

Yuri Monogatari is not a single manga but an annual anthology of indie yuri works. Also notable for containing yuri manga-style comics produced all over the world (so it's not "manga" in the strictest sense of the word).

Original Anime

Battle Athletes, with the manga being more upfront with its Girls Love than the two anime series.

Yuri Kuma Arashi, an anime by Kunihiko Ikuhara about bears who have risen up to eat humans and two bears who infiltrate as schoolgirls and are very keen to eat girls. Has very strong yuri elements - the first minutes of the show involve the protagonist declaring her love for her girlfriend, and the OP is filled with images of happy girls hugging while naked.

Original Light Novels

Maria-sama ga Miteru is one of the most popular yuri series, however it is about Romantic Two Girl Friendships between students in an all-girls high school. Though none of the relationships go past subtext (with one exception in the backstory), it is nevertheless iconic of the yuri genre.

Kindred Spirits on the Roof is a light-hearted, Slice of Life yuri visual novel based around a ghost lesbian couple recruiting a girl who can see them into helping bring together a number of other potential lesbian couples at their school. Unlike most yuri visual novels, this one feels much more aimed towards women. The art and character design style is more realistic and resembles fashion art more than Moe, and the game doesn't shy away from labeling the relationships as homosexual and dealing with issues like subtle homophobia.

Strawberry Vinegar is about a slowly evolving crush between two 9 year girls, one of which is a demon.

Other

The manga Claudine, written by Oniisama e...'s author Riyoko Ikeda, is often wrongly classified as Yuri. However, this is a mistake. The main character, Claudine de Montesse, is a Transsexual man who searches for female love interests. He is referred as a man such by other characters. His Unlucky Childhood Friend Rosemarie, for example, describes him as "a true man, given a woman's body". Therefore, it'd be incorrect to classify this particular manga as yuri. Although homosexuality and transsexuality are both LGBTQ issues, they are different and, whilst they can overlap, it's not always the case.

Fluttering Feelings, an original Korean manhwa by Ssamba, is a Slice of Life story about two Business University students, the average slightly immature Kim No-Rae and the beautifully captivating Baek Seol-A.

Lily Love, from Thailand by Ratana Satis, follows the life of Donut, a college girl who doesn't believe in soulmates. A chance meeting with her new neighbor, Mew, led to friendship and grows into something much more.

Magan&Danai, an original Chinese webcomic by ermuzibu, is a comedic Slice of Life series about a tsundere woman and her girlfriend.

Santiago Nights, an original English language light novel, about Lily Oda, a young werewolf mob enforcer and her human mate, Chelsea Heartfield.

These days, by goodboy64, is an original English web serial, focusing on Akiyama Lilly, who obtains super powers after her best friend, Haruko Rea, confesses to her. Things violently escalate from there.

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